Malaysian CEO Nazrin Hassan dies after smartphone catches fire

NEW DELHI: In yet another incident of smartphone explosion, Nazrin Hassan, CEO of Cradle Fund Sdn Bhd died after one of his phones exploded while being charged.

According to media reports, Hassan was using BlackBerry and Huawei smartphones. Both the smartphones were kept on charging next to his bedside. It remains unclear which of the two smartphones actually overheated and caught fire. The explosion led to a fire on the mattress in the room leading to the CEO’s death due to smoke inhalation.

“He had two phones, one Blackberry and a Huawei. We don’t know which one exploded. Who would have thought such an innocuous routine procedure is the reason three young kids will grow up without their father by their side,” Hsssan’s brother-in-law, who did not reveal his name said in a message on social media, told The Malaysian Insight.

The message also advised the public to be more caution while charging their mobile phones, including charging only in “safe zones.” “(Do) not charge in the bedroom. It’s worth the inconvenience of not having your mobile phone a hand’s reach away,” he, continued.

The official statement issued by Cradle Fund, said, “The post-mortem report concluded the cause of death as being complication of blast injuries attributable to an exploding hand phone that was being charged next to him.”

“Cradle has lost a passionate, innovative and humble leader and the startup community has lost an inspiring leader. His vision and love for innovation will always be at the core of what we do. Nazrin loved his work, but his greatest love was for his wife and children,” the statement added.

Since 2007 Nazrin is CEO of Cradle Fund, a Ministry of Finance company in Malaysia that helps fund tech entrepreneurs and startups.

Nazrin, 45 is survived by his wife and three children. He educated in the United Kingdom with a Bachelor of Laws (LL.B Hons) from the University of Buckingham .